PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER TWENTY: Somebody's Daughter

Another week passed, and things were honestly pretty good.

Thatch had graciously taken our shackles off once we had returned to the ship from Hilltide Island, and I had made a beeline for the showers, bullying Marco into standing guard so nobody walked in on me.

Despite having spent so long attached to Ace, and also being caught in a very suspicious position, I still spent most of my time around him. Maybe it was because I had grown used to it, or maybe it was something more. I was still struggling to figure it out.

With each passing day, I discovered through my interactions with the raven haired pirate that maybe it was a good thing to have been plucked from my sheltered life in Dressrosa. I still deeply cared for Doflamingo, I always would, but I was beginning to realise that it wasn't a good thing.

On the Moby Dick, I didn't get punished for doing what I wanted, as long as it wasn't going to bring harm to anybody else. Ace, Marco, Thatch, even Whitebeard himself encouraged me to do what I wanted to do, and that was entirely new to me.

I was far from coddled, and nobody treated me like I was a belonging. The feelings from when I had been free on Dawn Island began to resurface, and I spent a lot of time reflecting on everything.

"So, all this time, his love was hurting me...wasn't it..?" In my new room, which was small, but all mine, I turned to the spectre of Corazon, who just stared back into my eyes. It had been a while since I had conjured him up, and it felt therapeutic to have him there to listen, without any judgement, even if he was just a memory.

He did something...Whatever it was, it ended with you dying...but I can't remember it clearly...That should be enough of an answer...

"What should I do? I miss Dressrosa, and...well, kind of Doffy...but I like it here. I...like it with Ace...Cora, tell me what to do. Not what I want, but what the real you would tell me to do." Pursing his lips, Corazon pulled me closer into his side, silent and unable to answer me. I knew that would be the case, but it still frustrated me.

After spending a little more time just existing with my dearest memory, I decided to return to the deck, only to find Ace hopping around like a madman, shoving a sheet of paper into people's faces. When he spotted me, he rushed over with the speed of light, moving to stand behind me and trapping me between his chest and the paper.
"Hey hey hey look look look! See! Look!"

Blinking furiously to make my eyes adjust, I lit up once they did. There, right in front of me, was a picture of Luffy, right beneath the bold letters of the word 'Wanted'.
"Oh my god, it's Luffy!" Snatching the poster, I pulled it closer to my face, using Ace as support as I leaned back a little.

"Yep! Already making a name for himself, just like he swore he would!" Ace was positively beaming, and it was definitely infectious. He began gushing over how proud he was, and I found it to be incredibly sweet. There went my heart again, pounding away.

"Thirty million berries...That's pretty damn high for a first bounty, isn't it?" I wondered aloud, glancing up as one of the other commanders who had stopped by to chat to Whitebeard, Jozu, approached, nodding along with what I had said.

"Yep, but I heard he took down that shitty Arlong, of the Fishman Pirates, so that's pretty deserving of that kind of a price. Watch out, Fire Fist. He might surpass you before you know it." Ace reached around me again to pluck the poster out of my hands, turning me a little so he could lean upon my shoulder, having to bend down a fair way to do so somewhat comfortably.

"He's welcome to try, but he's no match for his awesome big brother." He grinned, thumbing towards himself. Deciding to mess with him a little, I made a show of rolling my eyes, scoffing loudly.
"Oh, I dunno, Pepper. I'm pretty sure he's going to run circles around you once he hits the Grand Line."